March 18 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc. said access to its
online storage service has been restored after an earlier
disruption affected a “significant subset” of users.

Google first revealed it was investigating reports that
Google Drive was inaccessible to users at 10:17 a.m. New York
time. The issue “should be resolved,” the Mountain View,
California-based company said in an update two hours later.

The service, which competes with similar offerings from
Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp., is a part of the company’s
effort to get users to access features online, including
Google’s own e-mail and documents programs. The company is
looking for new ways to draw in revenue from subscription fees
beyond its core search-based business.

Google Drive, which the company began offering last year,
is free up to 5 gigabytes and then costs $2.49 a month or more
for additional space, depending on the amount.

Users can put a Google Drive folder on multiple computers,
including those that run on Microsoft’s Windows and Apple’s
operating system. Once stored, the files and documents can be
shared or edited online.

Shares in Google fell less than 1 percent to $807.79 at the
close in New York, leaving the stock up 14 percent this year.